Now
by Crofregernish
Summary: Set during some random Christmas party before Sasuke defected. A little OOCness, but not too bad. SasukexOC/SasuxOC


There are two outfits in this story, and here are some pictures if you please. The colors are different, .com/designer-dresses-5/designer-knee-length-dresses-35/silk-wool-fine-knit-sequinned-polo-10463-18772_(It's the one on the left).com/assets/18/844/l_ were sitting next to your best friend, Kiba Inukuka on a park bench in Konoha's new dog park. It was peaceful, secluded from most of the village by the thick trees surrounding it. Your dog Hinako and Akamaru were rolling around, licking each other. You and Kiba had been best friends since Team 8 was started, when Hinako showed an _interest _in Akamaru. He knew everything about you, and you him. So, of course, he took every chance he got to tease you.

"Cru-ush alert." Kiba started poking you in the side.

"Huh?" It took you a moment to register what he'd said. "Yeah, she's liked him a long time. I hope he has feelings for her, too," you said, talking about Hinako and Akamaru.

"I'm going to get some lunch, see you later, Asame," Kiba blurted out before running away. He called back to you, "I'll be back to pick up Akamaru later!"

"Sure thing, Kiba," you said to yourself.

"I don't think he can hear you," a voice said from behind you. You recognized it as Sasuke's.

"Um, no, probably not," you said quietly.

You were comfortable enough with Kiba to speak openly with him. But with everyone else - especially a certain boy you were in love with - you were shy. Your best friend always liked to poke fun at your personality. You were sweet and quiet, but you had your sarcastic moments (mostly when people annoyed you).

You felt Sasuke sit down next to you, reminding you of the first time you had met him. Of course, you always heard your friends talking about Sasuke and had seen him around town, but you had never actually _met _him.

"_Come on, Hinata," Kiba said. _

"_But I-I d-don't want to go, K-Kiba-kun," she answered shakily. _

"_Why not?" Kiba pried. "Your lover will be there." As soon as he said "lover", Hinata's face turned a bright flush of pink._

"_Just leave her alone, Kiba," you spoke up. You knew how Hinata felt, being quite shy yourself. Hinata was one of your closest friends, you weren't going to let Kiba harass her. "If she doesn't want to go, she doesn't have to."_

"_Okay, okay." Kiba held up his hands defensively. You were quiet, but a good enough ninja where no one would want to be on your bad side. "Sorry, Hinata… I'm going to go get some ramen," he muttered. You were sure he was just trying to get away from you. _

_Hinata opened her mouth to say something, but you interrupted her. "Do you want to go to the party, Hinata?" You knew with Hinata you had to be blunt. _

_She nodded and tried to hide her blush._

"_I'm sure Kiba will try to get me to go, too," you told her. He knew about your crush on Sasuke; and that Sasuke was going to be at the party. "Want to go together?"_

"_O-okay," Hinata smiled. You were fairly certain not many people invited her to do things._

_The night of the party, you got ready before heading over to the Hyuuga mansion. Naruto had insisted in the invitations that you must dress festively, or else. You imagined "or else" was something along the lines of being forced into an ugly Santa suit. So you chose to wear a long sleeved, knitted red dress over black tights and knee-high leather boots. You wanted to look nice, without drawing too much attention to yourself. Wanting to add some "Christmasyness" to your ensemble, you braided your hair with a few strands of silver tinsel. You knew Sakura and Ino would both wear attention grabbing pieces, so you weren't worried about what you wore. However, when you got to Hinata's, you found her running frantically around her room, clothes strewn everywhere. _

"_Would you like some help?" You smiled apologetically when you scared her._

"_I would appreciate that," she said. _

_You began sifting through her clothes, as your friend watched you on her bed. You grabbed a few articles of clothing, tossing them to your friend, you told her to try them on. The first outfit was a form fitting black dress. Hinata came out from behind her dressing screen and spun around once. She looked wonderful, but her face gave away how uncomfortable she was._

"_Maybe you should try the pants," you suggested. She smiled gratefully. A few moments later she came out once again, wearing reverse colors of you. She had on a flowing black blouse that was fitted at the waist and red skinny jeans. For a moment you considered why exactly Hinata had skinny jeans, but by all the clothes you saw, you concluded she had just about every item of clothing. "Almost perfect," you told her. You searched through her closet until you found a wide, golden belt and wrapped it around her waist. She was blushing slightly at the attention you were giving her, but you nodded approvingly._

_You touched up your light makeup and you and Hinata were on your way to Naruto's. It was snowing lightly, and you inwardly cursed yourself for not remembering a jacket. Luckily, the two of you reached the party in a matter of minutes. Naruto greeted you at the door, his eyes lingered on Hinata momentarily before he told you to help yourself to tea. You didn't mean to abandon your friend - not that leaving her with the boy of her dreams was abandoning - but you rushed to the kitchen to get some tea. When you entered the room, you saw the kettle instantly and took one of the cups that had been set out. You tried picking up the pot, but you were shaking so bad you splashed some on yourself. With one hand you held your sweater away from your skin, and put the kettle back on the stove with the other._

"_Here," someone offered. You jumped, thankful you'd put the pot down, and turned to the person holding a towel out to you. _

"_Thanks," you said shyly. Of course it was Sasuke. By some terrible accident in the universe, women were forever cursed to have their crushes watch them at their most ungraceful times. You started to pat dry the water until it was just a little damp, and had cooled down enough for you to stop holding it away from yourself._

"_Naruto has a fire going in the living room," Sasuke told you. You nodded in acknowledgement of what he said, trying to hide your blush. You really wanted to dry off, so you sat down the bench closest to the fire. Most of the furniture, save a couch and a loveseat, had been arranged in a semicircle around the fire. To your surprise, Sasuke had followed and sat down beside you. You looked at him with shock on your face, wondering why he would choose to sit next to you when a skimpily dressed Sakura and Ino were directly across from you._

"_May I sit here," he asked politely, seeing the look on your face._

"_Oh, sure…" Part of your mind told you to just jump in the fire and end your embarrassment there._

"_Are you always this quiet." You weren't sure if it was a question or an accusation._

"_Only around people," Kiba jumped in. He had the biggest grin you'd ever seen on his face._

"_Kiba…" you warned. You hoped Kiba had sense enough not to tell him that you had the biggest crush on him. Unlike his many fan girls, you didn't care about his looks, not that they weren't nice. But he was strong, determined, protective… _

"_What?" he asked, feigning innocence. He was having way too much fun, and you could hear Sakura and Ino about ready to burst._

"_You can come sit by us, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, very close to sounding like whining. You weren't facing her, but you could feel her glare. Sakura herself didn't scare you. But standing between a fan girl and the boy she liked, that scared you a little._

"_Yeah, Sasuke-kun," Ino joined in, also glaring._

"_I think I'm going to go home," you said quietly. You knew Hinata would be okay, she was off with Naruto, and that's all that you were worried about. You stood up quickly and left, having Kiba come after you. As much as he liked to tease you, he was protective over you like an older brother._

"_Are you all right, Asame?" he asked you, all joking gone from his voice._

"_I'm wonderful, Kiba." The sarcasm in your voice was hindered a bit by your shivering. Kiba noticed and put his coat around your shoulders. This little gesture brought tears to your eyes. You couldn't help but wish that it was Sasuke you were with. But somewhere in your mind, you also couldn't help thinking it would never happen. There were tons of girls who liked Sasuke, and he didn't even seem interested in them. Why would he be interested in you?_

You were a little apprehensive of Sasuke sitting next to you. One reason being your feelings for him, another was being afraid of a fan girl sneak attack. You had none of your ninja gear with you, seeing as you thought you'd only be at the dog park with Kiba, and didn't think you'd be able to get through an attack without less than critical injuries.

Coming back to reality from your reminiscing, you noticed Sasuke was staring at you. "Is there…. Something wrong?" you asked him.

"Something's bothering you," he stated.

"No, I'm fine," you lied.

Sasuke's gaze intensified. "Don't lie." You chose not to answer him and instead focused on the ground in front of you. You felt a presence behind you suddenly, out of reflex you jumped up from the bench and tried to spin around and face the direction of the presence, but ended up tripping over your own feet in haste. Sasuke caught you and stood you up while pulling out a few kunai. You knew that Sasuke must have sensed the presence or he probably wouldn't have reacted the way he did.

"Sasuke-kun!" an alarmed voice rang out from behind the trees. Sasuke sighed and put his kunai back.

"What do you want?"

Ino emerged from the trees wearing a skirt that was way to short and very low-cut shirt.

"Oh, I was just walking around," she replied in a sweet voice. "Would you like to join me?" she asked, sending a glare your way.

"No," he said coldly.

"But… Why not?" she asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

"I don't want to."

"You'd rather spend time with her?" There was a hint of disgust in her voice.

"Yes, I would," Sasuke said, putting an arm around your shoulders and causing you to blush.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino grabbed at you, but Sasuke pulled you closer to him to keep her away from you. This angered Ino more, turning her into a _very _angry fan girl.

"Leave her alone." Sasuke spoke with finality that made Ino stop where she stood.

The only thing she could do was turn it against him. "So what, are you like dating now?" she asked.

"Yes." This statement made you blush even harder.

"Prove it," Ino dared, thinking Sasuke was using you to make her leave him alone.

Without hesitation, Sasuke wrapped his arms around your waist and kissed you. You didn't kiss back, you couldn't, you were in too much shock. However, it was enough to make Ino stomp away angrily. Sasuke pulled away, but only an inch or two.

"I meant it," he told you.

"Meant… what?" you asked shyly.

"I want you to be my girlfriend." His face was emotionless, so you couldn't tell if he was lying.

"Why?" you asked, sincerely not knowing why he would choose you.

"Kiba told me how you felt after Naruto's Christmas party."

You didn't deny it, but you were sure how angry you were at Kiba showed on your face.

"He said you cried afterwards and he didn't want to see you like that." You were surprised Sasuke was defending Kiba, but you supposed it was to prove to you he really did mean what he said. "Why did you cry?"

"Because I wanted you to be with me, not Kiba," you said before you realized what exactly you were saying.

"I'm here now," he told you before pulling you into another kiss.

And this time, you kissed back.


End file.
